LANSING — In case you missed it, yesterday, The American Independent dropped a bombshell story exposing incredibly disturbing emails sent by GOP House Minority Leader Matt Hall during college, filled with racially-tinged threats to commit violent acts against another student.
The emails show Hall making death threats towards a student at his girlfriend’s college in Maryland, going as far as to say that he has a “shotgun” and a “bullet” with the student’s name on it, and makes racially-charged statements warning, “The South will rise again,” and “we don’t like your kind here.”
Beyond the obvious questions these emails raise about Hall’s past, they bring up a larger and pressing issue – let’s not forget that Matt Hall very vocally celebrated his opposition to multiple common sense gun reform bills that moved through the state legislature in the spring, and marketed himself as a champion of the Second Amendment. Now, the Michigan Legislature is set to take up a new series of gun safety reforms, including ones that protect domestic violence survivors by preventing those convicted from possessing a firearm.
With Matt Hall’s newly-exposed record of harassment and violent threats – that he’s refused to answer for — we have extreme doubts on whether he can objectively assess this and any other bills that concern harassment and partner violence.
The bottom line is that Michiganders deserve answers, especially given that Hall is one of the most powerful Republicans in the state.
Don’t just take it from us – read the troubling details uncovered in The American Independent story for yourself:
- House Minority Leader Matt Hall, a Republican who represents a southwest Michigan district around Kalamazoo, is a graduate of Western Michigan University. During his time there, according to police records obtained through a public records request, he admitted to sending death threats to a student at a college in Maryland, where his girlfriend was studying.
- In one email, Hall wrote: “YOU BETTER NOT GO TO THE CHRISTMAS PARTY TOMORROW NIGHT! JUST A WORD OF ADVICE!! THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN AND WE DON’T LIKE YOUR KIND TREATING LADIES LIKE [redacted] WITHOUT DIGNITY. SHE IS A FINE LADY YOU DON’T NEED TO BE SAYING SHIT ABOUT HER! WE ARE GOING TO IMPOSE OUR SOUTHERN WAYS ON YOU! I’VE GOT A SHOTGUN RIFLE AND I JUST PUT A BULLET IN IT WITH YOUR NAME ON IT!”
- Bills that would prevent anyone convicted of domestic abuse from owning or possessing firearms and ammunition for eight years after completing their sentences are working their way through the Legislature.
- The Republican minority has opposed these gun safety efforts. In an Aug. 9 press release, since deleted from the Michigan House Republicans’ website, Hall framed himself as “a Leading Defender of our Second Amendment Rights” … In a post in March 2022, Hall touted legislation to lower the penalties for those carrying concealed pistols with expired licenses.
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